This invention pertains to article handling systems and, particularly, to box or container picker systems which can detect the presence of containers or boxes in a layer as well as the orientation thereof and then pick up selected boxes for transfer to a discharge station. Additionally, the invention pertains to pickup head structure including miniaturized components and a detector-pickup unit and controls therefor providing new and improved operation.
The prior art has had order-picking apparatus with vacuum pickup heads, with the assignee of this application having built such a structure wherein the vacuum pickup head had an internal vacuum chamber and a rotatable valve plate was operated by a solenoid to move between open and closed positions to control application of a vacuum to a space beneath the head which overlies a container and is sealed thereto by a container-engaging seal element. A structure of this type is shown in an abandoned application, Ser. No. 427,064, filed Dec. 21, 1973.
Additional prior art disclosing vacuum pickup head structure includes U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,351,219; 3,697,112; and 3,716,147. The first of these patents also discloses a container detection system and the pickup of a single container.